I first encountered it in a high school English class. We were presented this poem as a comprehension exercise and had to explain it. I sensed the sexual undertones of the poem, but quickly dismissed such thoughts. It couldn't be remotely sexual if it was presented in a Catholic High school, right? I proceeded to analyse the poem and got it quite wrong. After the exercise the teacher explained it all to us, and I _saw_ it - it all made sense, it was perfect - every word had it's place. The very structure of the poem with its odd rhyming form adds to the atmosphere of the poem, all but disintegrating by the end - I especially like how the boundary between the last 2 stanzas is left "fuzzy". A great poem.
2002-09-30
Added by: Jack McKinney
I read this poem approximately 30 years ago in an English class at Ohio State University. I have been in love with it ever since. I find the images that it invokes fascinating. For some reason I began thinking about it the other night and had to find it. With the internet, it's much easier than before to find anything; as we know. Great poem!
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This is my favourite poem.
I first encountered it in a high school English class. We were presented this poem as a comprehension exercise and had to explain it. I sensed the sexual undertones of the poem, but quickly dismissed such thoughts. It couldn't be remotely sexual if it was presented in a Catholic High school, right? I proceeded to analyse the poem and got it quite wrong. After the exercise the teacher explained it all to us, and I _saw_ it - it all made sense, it was perfect - every word had it's place. The very structure of the poem with its odd rhyming form adds to the atmosphere of the poem, all but disintegrating by the end - I especially like how the boundary between the last 2 stanzas is left "fuzzy". A great poem.